reSee.it - Related Post Feed
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
15. 2/5/2020- Trump acquitted in first impeachment Eight days later, Shelby Pierson briefed the HPSCI, where she told the committee that “Russia was working to get Trump re-elected.” https://apnews.com/article/campaigns-donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-politics-4912baca0c4cbc6cb7a3580f4f3c9b96
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
16.Trump was enraged over this, fired Acting DNI Maguire and replaced him with @RichardGrenell Yet Pierson remained in her position. Why?
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
17. 3/10/2020- In a classified briefing to Congress, @BillEvanina walks back claims made by Shelby Pierson a month prior. Evanina told Congress they had “nothing to support” the notion that Putin favored one candidate or another. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/administration-officials-brief-members-of-congress-on-election-security/
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
18. While Shelby Pierson has now left ODNI, the effort to counter “disinformation” continues Pierson’s old position as Elections Threats Executive is part of a new center at ODNI: FOREIGN MALIGN INFLUENCE CENTER Its mission is identical to DHS Disinformation Governance Board
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
19. Jeffrey Wichman, former 30-year CIA officer, is the current acting Director of the Foreign Malign Influence Center #FMIC’s mission is to counter “malign influence” that seeks to influence public opinion & behavior Wichman is the de facto leader of the ‘Thought Police”
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
20.#DisinfoGate- A real, documented, & vast conspiratorial effort led by Shelby Pierson & Bill Evanina at ODNI, along with other Government officials It includes virtually the entire Intel Community in partnership w/ Social Media firms, Tech firms, MSM, Academia, NGO’s, etc.
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
21.#DisinfoGate- Using a false narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, CISA was created as a liaison between IC & Social Media The goal was to censor free speech (under the false guise of foreign disinfo) & socially engineer the opinions of American voters
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
22.#DisinfoGate- After achieving their goal of getting Trump out of office, this Deep State/Social Media partnership is now ostensibly being used to censor & socially engineer our views on COVID, vaccines, climate, race relations, Russia/Ukraine War, etc. End
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
24.#DisinfoGate Part 2- Foreign Malign Influence Center - https://www.dni.gov/index.php/nctc-who-we-are/organization/340-about/organization/foreign-malign-influence-center
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
1. #DisinfoGate PART 2 FOREIGN MALIGN INFLUENCE CENTER #FMIC quietly opened it’s doors in Sept 2022 It’s mission is identical to DHS Disinformation Governance Board FMIC mission is to counter “malign influence” that seeks to influence public opinion & behavior @elonmusk
@NameRedacted247 - Name Redacted
25.Sources: Tweet 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49MWq6cqPXU Tweet 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woGyMvqLV5o&t=612s Tweet 6- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EV9BSMfoqY https://www.foxnews.com/video/6317022404112 Tweets 8 & 9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMU67hsqM0&t=256s
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
1. TWITTER FILES: Internal documents from @Twitter find Brown University's @cward1e provides research that helps censor.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
2. After years of working with disinformation researchers, reporters ignore that these "academics" aid in censoring. How do we know these campus employees censor? They sometimes admit it.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
3. Before the 2020 election, Stanford's Alex Stamos said at the Commonwealth Fund, "Our goal is to operationalise our work." Seriously, he said this out loud.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
4. Like University of Washington professor Kate Starbird, Stamos serves on the advisory committee of the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA--a DHS agency
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
5. In fact, Stanford's Stamos formed the Krebs Stamos Group with the former head of CISA, Chris Krebs. I'm not joking. It's right there on the website.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
5. The Chair of CISA's advisory committee is Tom Fanning, the CEO of Southern Company. @SenWhitehouse called out Southern Company for funding climate change disinformation. So why is he ignoring this today?
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
6. A central figure in Big Disinformation is researcher Claire Wardle. With Google money in 2015, Wardle formed First Draft which claimed to be “the world’s foremost non-profit organisation focused on research and practice to tackle misinformation and disinformation.”
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
7. Guess who came calling? I tripped over this document marked “for official use only” that finds Wardle had also been chosen to brief CISA’s advisory committee. CISA says they will get back to explain how often Wardle briefed them.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
8. Wardle was also involved in this Ted event on vaccines. The invite to Twitter was sent by Alexios Mantzarlis. A former fact checker, Mantzarlis has since joined Google where he focuses on misinformation.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
9. “This is too important a topic to not share lessons,” Mantzarlis emailed, stating that goals were to create a list of relevant information on vaccines that could be converted into advice for social media platforms. QUESTION: What is Big Disinformation's obsession w/ vaccines?
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
10. But when a Twitter official asked for more information, Wardle responded, “Sorry you weren’t able to attend the event on the 30th. It ended up being a really great conversation, with real emphasis on quality information around vaccines.”
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
11. Shortly after Trump lost in 2020, Pfizer released initial, preliminary findings for their COVID vaccine. This was November 9, 2020.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
12. Days later, Wardle rushes out a report on vaccine misinformation. She sends Twitter a looky-look the day before she releases the report.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
13. “Hello my lovely friends,” Wardle emailed. “I had hoped this week would be full of relaxing massages and cupcakes. Instead it’s more election nonsense and a Pfizer announcement that forced us to push up our planned release of new research on online vaccine narratives.”
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
14. “Hello my lovely friends,” Wardle emailed. “I had hoped this week would be full of relaxing massages and cupcakes. Instead it’s more election nonsense and a Pfizer announcement that forced us to push up our planned release of new research on online vaccine narratives.”
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
15. QUESTION: How often do academics put out white papers like this to promote a corporate product? Does this seem scholarly? But wait, the report on "misinformation" contains misinformation, of course.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
16. Wardle claimed in her report that vaccine mandates are “one of the prominent anti-vaccination narratives”—a narrative which, oddly enough, proved to be accurate when US companies as well as state and federal agencies began mandating COVID vaccines.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
17. Did Wardle's First Draft correct their report. Nope. They just lurched forward in support of vaccine mandates, by publishing blog posts with headlines that described discussions around mandated vaccinations as “disinformation” as well.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
18. Since Wardle released her report, one authors joined the global PR firm M&C Saatchi as an analyst. Surprise! M&C Saatchi has a contract w/ the Australian government to censor its citizens.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
19. M&C Saatchi's contract came out in an Australian Senate hearing weeks back.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
20. Meanwhile, one of Wardle's researchers joined the British government in 2021 as a “counter-disinformation product lead.” Have you been reading the British press? Surprise! More censorship.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
21. BTW, as people investigate these campus employees for censorship, guess who's stepping in to stop FOIA disclosure of documents? Surprise! @lhfang found it's CISA.
@thackerpd - Paul D. Thacker
22. Read more here and please subscribe https://disinformationchronicle.substack.com/p/twitter-files-brown-universitys-claire
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This case was filed last May by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with private plaintiffs, against numerous agencies in the federal government. Plaintiffs alleged that the government (including the FBI, White House, Surgeon General, CISA, among many others) were forcing social media companies to censor speech by threat.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This case was filed last May by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with private plaintiffs, against numerous agencies in the federal government. Plaintiffs alleged that the government (including the FBI, White House, Surgeon General, CISA, among many others) were forcing social media companies to censor speech by threat.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The Plaintiffs wanted a temporary injunction to STOP this activity as their case moved to trial. Judge Terry Doughty granted them expedited limited discovery and deposition to get the information they needed to prove a temporary injunction was warranted.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Of course, the government fought this the entire way, but ultimately were widely unsuccessful. The information plaintiffs received was absolutely mind blowing. For certain the government was coercing social media companies to censorship— the discovery proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
It came time for a hearing on the injunction, and I traveled to Louisiana for that hearing. It was 8 hours long, and absolutely damning for the government. If you see the post I placed in the first post in this thread, you can scroll down and read all about it.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Since that hearing, I have been honored to do several spaces with @ThaWoodChipper, who also understands the importance of this monumental civil rights case. It is the most important civil rights case in the modern era, hands down. We waited patiently for the ruling… And on July 4th, we got it.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
On July 4th, the district court under an absolutely AMAZING judge in Terry Doughty, ruled in FAVOR of the Plaintiffs. Here is where you need to pay attention. Everything this judge wrote in his ruling is a PROVEN FACT in a court of law. In a 155 page ruling, the judge METICULOUSLY dissected the record and rendered a judgement.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I threaded this ruling when it happened, and you can find it on my “highlights” page - but I want to make something clear; the fact set the judge is relying on here came from EXTREMELY limited discovery and deposition from ONLY the government Defendants.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, the ruling was for a temporary injunction to STOP the government from the following while carving out some exceptions for them, AS THE REST OF THE CASE PROGRESSED THROUGH DISCOVERY AND TO TRIAL. Read this very carefully.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This list is going to be very important as we move forward through this thread, so please bookmark this for reference moving forward. So, the government obviously appealed this to the 5th circuit. The court heard the appeal in an expedited fashion (for them) and yesterday, THEIR opinion was filed.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
It is hard to completely rehash all of the reporting I have done over the past year and some months in a short update, but basically the government argued that they weren’t threatening anyone ever and everything we got in discovery was nonsense and misinterpreted, and the 3 judge panel of the court of appeals had to listen to that, while reviewing the DETAILED fact set the judge had ruled on in the order for the injunction.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, quickly, what we are about to go through is the 5th circuits decision on whether or not to UPHOLD the ruling that Judge Doughty made barring the government agencies listed from the actions listed above in the 4 set screenshot, or to REVERSE that ruling. It isn’t about the entire case— ONLY the temporary injunction.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I am probably 70/30 on how this panned out, but the details are important. The government asked that if the court should rule against them, they put a stay (pause) on the order for 10 days so that they could appeal it to the SCOTUS. The 5th did that, so the ruling they just laid down is PAUSED for 10 more days while the government attempts to write to the SCOTUS convincing them that they SHOULD be able to force social media companies to censor you. Chew on that for a minute.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Also, in the interim while we waited for this decision, I had the honor of interviewing both @AGAndrewBailey from Missouri, and @AGJeffLandry from Louisiana. Both are WONDERFUL examples of what you want in a state Attorney General. For links, see: Andrew Bailey: https://rumble.com/v342ndn-dark-to-light-missouri-attorney-general-andrew-bailey.html Jeff Landry: https://rumble.com/v36i7oh-dark-to-light-missouri-v.-biden-and-ag-jeff-landry.html
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@AGAndrewBailey @AGJeffLandry We are about to travel through 74 pages together.. Grab coffee, whatever, and off we go. Here is the link to the decision, and here is a summary of what we are about to dissect as best we can. LINK: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640.238.1.pdf
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, the court agrees the government is guilty of what is alleged, but not for ALL of the officials that Judge Doughty did. Remember, everything is based on the limited discovery they were able to receive, but I wholeheartedly disagree with this, and we will go through the reasons why. Still, the fact this was affirmed AT ALL is a massive, massive win.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@AGAndrewBailey @AGJeffLandry They summarized much more concisely than I ever could… https://t.co/mOVcbQlst9
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
1. The White House and Surgeon General - taken together Here the appeals court affirms that the WH and SG requested social media companies remove posts and pressured them to do so. It also affirms that they also monitored the platforms moderation activities, demanded information from them about their policies, “Always, the officials asked for more data and stronger interventions” said the 5th.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
From the beginning the platforms cooperated - even creating special tools, but as officials began to demand more from them, the platforms worked to “appease” government officials, “eager” to stay in their good graces. https://t.co/JRstpgWUIH
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Remember, everything in this decision REAFFIRMS a fact pattern. Here the 5th affirms that the WH and SG attempted to interfere with the platforms own POLICY creation. This is so important. The government can not do this. https://t.co/Xs82GI5HzO
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Here the court affirms that platforms changed their moderation policy after instruction from the government… Tsk Tsk “…they also changed their moderation policies expressly in accordance with the officials’ wishes…” https://t.co/k1bN5Pxz11
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
As an aside, I don’t want to hear ONE PERSON come at any of us who have been saying this for years and say it is “misinformation” any longer. This is now affirmed both in congress and in two courts - a district court and the court of appeals of the United States. @krassenstein and @EdKrassen argued with me in a space once that this is all totally untrue. I hope they will revise their positions. I wont hold my breath.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The discovery proved that the changes many of the platforms enacted coincided closely with meeting between the WH and SG and the platforms. And even when they didn’t adopt the changes, they censored content that DID NOT BREAK their terms of service after that content was flagged by the government.. Again, marinate on it…
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@krassenstein At the same time as they were demoting normal Americans, the social media platforms capitulated to government demands to “amplify” (inorganically) the governments “approved” narrative, specifically in this case when it pertained to vaccines for COVID. https://t.co/asT2LPmGow
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I want everyone to think about the above for a moment. They were forcing inorganic amplification so people would be fooled into thinking the vaccine was “safe and effective” when one of them was REMOVED because it wasn’t. The sheer evil behind the obvious is unbelievable.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even with all of that, the ministry of truth wasn’t happy, scolding platforms for not doing enough, and trying to coerce them to do more. All of this to get that needle in your arm, consequences be damned… https://t.co/u1Ws27lq1M
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And here the court details the infamous press conference, where Jen Psaki and Vivek Murthy *expressly threatened* the platforms from the bully pulpit, even singling out certain accounts.. This was the ultimate in authoritarianism, and the 5th circuit agrees. https://t.co/pfuKR2Dl6a
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“The platforms responded with total compliance. Their answer was four-fold.” The social media companies responded with child like obedience to daddy government. You can’t make this up. https://t.co/7KdEbIZtoF
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They changed their internal policies in response to the presser… https://t.co/6mUxhGE6FP
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They removed speakers (like the so called “disinfo dozen” that they HAD NOT BEEN targeting BEFORE the press conference, and they continued to inorganically amplify the government’s content. https://t.co/CoBxeDgV0A
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even this wasn’t enough for the ministry of truth. They continued their public threats, invoking Section 230 protection as a cudgel for MORE action, and using the office of the President as a backbone for that threat. https://t.co/lSVh0dUC71
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“Next, we turn to the CDC” says the 5th panel. They behaved much like the White House and Surgeon General. They flagged posts with supposed “misinformation” and actively sought to promote its “official” position over others. They also provided direct guidance to the platforms on the application of their internal policy and moderation activities.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They had BOLO (Be on the Lookout) meetings on “misinformation” hot topics. They asked for moderation changes, and they OUTRIGHT DIRECTED platforms to take certain actions. Direct violation of the constitution. Platforms began relying on the CDC to “Debunk” posts it wasn’t sure about.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And now, the good ol’ FBI. They regularly met with platforms, at least since the 2020 election. They shared “Strategic information” to alert them to “misinformation” trends in the lead up to the elections. https://t.co/yvtGq79TMf
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Per their operations, the FBI monitored platforms moderation policies and asked for “detailed assessments” during regular meetings. Some platforms changed their TOS to be able to comply with the FBI. While the government boasted that *only* 50% of the domestic (I repeat - DOMESTIC) content they wanted to remove was removed, the court didn’t find that so beneficial for them.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This is going to be the part where my disappointment comes in…But, again, this isn’t the CASE decision, its the decision on the injunction only.. They talk about NIAID, CISA, and the State Department. NIAID and Fauci didn’t have regular contact with platforms or flag, they mainly appeared on Live Streams and podcasts and had those amplified. CISA and the SD directly engaged with the platforms and discussed the tools and techniques that foreign influence actors would use.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The State Department didn’t flag content, but CISA did, acting as an intermediary for third party groups and then “switch boarding” based off of the EIP and CIS. The officials actions “apparently led to content being removed or demoted by the recipient platforms” https://t.co/KuNQmkYwuW
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Relying on the fact set above, the district court concluded that the officials coerced platforms to remove content and change their moderation policies, and therefore were likely to succeed on the merits, granting the injunction. https://t.co/3vpLFQuWg7
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
LEGAL THEORY: On standing - Any ONE plaintiff that demonstrates ongoing harm or continued injury is enough to pass the standing argument, a fact that was argued eloquently by the Plaintiff attorney in court. https://t.co/1CGDLZqSRK
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government is arguing that Plaintiffs dont have standing because they can’t prove a FUTURE injury. Here the court goes over their PAST injury. But the court doesn’t agree with the government. They believe there is ongoing injury and there will be future injury as well. https://t.co/Gfmm96ScvQ
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I want to stop for a second (again) and go over how monumental this actually is. This is the first time ever that a normal “user” or American has submitted evidence of social media censorship and had their concerns ADDRESSED at all by a COURT OF LAW.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Another HUGE precedent set here - the past chilling of their speech has caused individuals to SELF CENSOR. That is considered ongoing harm. This is a massive and very important section. https://t.co/vfa8NBIywk
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“As the Supreme Court has recognized, this chilling of the Individual Plaintiffs exercise of their First Amendment Rights, is, itself, a constitutionally sufficient injury.” They rule that the fears motivating the self censorship aren’t hypothetical, and come from very real censorship injuries they have previously suffered… Legal Eagles, affirm for me the importance of JUST this paragraph.. Amazing.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government had tried to argue that ongoing harms were not going to occur because, for example, Twitter had “stopped” enforcing its COVID misinformation policy. But the court disagrees, saying that they have been censored for views well beyond COVID. Continued next— very important.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Here is something ANYONE who is considering any sort of lawsuit needs to consider. The court here aptly notes that plaintiffs aren’t suing the platforms over their TOS, they are suing to stop the GOVERNMENT from interfering with platforms. Also - the government admitted in oral argument that they are STILL in contact with these platforms today. TLDR; the court doesn’t trust that the government isn’t still forcing social media companies to censor..
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This is GRAND. The government argued that because the users had been REINSTATED, all is well. The court rightly says no. The fact that they WERE REINSTATED is what causes the threat of ongoing harm. If they didn’t have an account, they wouldn’t have to worry about censorship— they wouldn’t be able to post. Masterful.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The first standing hurdle, crossed and landed for Plaintiffs. This means any chance of appeal on standing to SCOTUS is likely a failure. The government had argued this standing issue over, and over, and over and have been shot down every single time. Now that is reinforced yet again. This case isn’t going ANYWHERE.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The Plaintiffs had to show that their injuries were traceable to conduct of the government. Government argued that since the content moderation policies were in place in the Trump administration, and also because moderation decisions were made independently by the social media companies. They had no standing. However, the plaintiffs aren’t challenging the policies themselves, but whether they can be traced back to government actors. The appeals court agrees with the district court that yes, they can be.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even though there were instances where social media companies declined to censor, the Plaintiffs only have to show the likelihood they would comply, not certainty. The logical conclusion is that they would, based on the preliminary discovery they received.. https://t.co/iBBr8Z4vGw
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And I want to again stress, this was LIMITED discovery. The judge in the district court had made it a point in an order to let the government know that this was a mere scintilla of what would be required for production moving forward. So position this for yourselves - all of this is coming from an EXTREMELY limited production of evidence, which will now broaden to include more officials, more agency heads, more PRIVATE companies, like Facebook, Google, and X, that will be subpoenaed and deposed for evidence at trial.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Next on standing, the Plaintiffs had to prove that their injuries could be redressed by a favorable decision on the injunction. https://t.co/yr5tIK2Usd
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Again, key here is that the Plaintiffs aren’t challenging the social media companies policies themselves, rather they asked for the government from being restrained from unlawfully interfering with their independent application of those policies. https://t.co/kut8vbUl2L
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And IMPORTANTLY, the government had argued that the state plaintiffs didn’t have standing. That goes right down the trash shoot here, and it is a BIG deal. States were censored by platforms. This court determines they have standing as well. https://t.co/CSJYbS0iVE
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And an interesting little tidbit here. Other state officials have experienced censorship as well, so this isn’t limited to just Missouri and Louisiana. https://t.co/lLRibdfomG
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And next, a very important part of the 1st Amendment that often goes undiscussed. THE RIGHT TO LISTEN. Constituent plaintiffs were harmed by the censorship of their elected representatives, and the elected representatives and states are harmed WHEN THEY CAN NOT HEAR their constituents. This was discussed at length in my interview with @AGJeffLandry
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The appeals court rules that Plaintiffs have standing - finally putting that issue to bed (hopefully) and also the court makes sure to include that even the CDC admitted the need to “hear” citizens. It may be for a different reason for them, but if you think about it - if the government couldn’t “hear” what we are all saying, they wouldn’t know what narrative they needed to craft to counter the truth… Goes both ways. NEXT!
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
There is a high bar to hit to even be granted an injunction. You must meet four criteria, as detailed below. 1. You are likely to succeed on the merits of your case. 2. There is a “substantial threat that you will suffer “irreparable injury” without it. 3. The injury you could sustain outweighs whatever “harm” the injunction could cause the other side 4. An injunction doesn’t disserve the public interest.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
FRAME THIS. “The Plaintiffs allege that federal officials ran afoul of the First Amendment by coercing and significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor disfavored speech, including by threats of adverse government action like antitrust enforcement and legal reforms. WE AGREE”
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government CAN NOT abridge free speech. Private parties are not normally constrained by the first amendment. Again, the importance of this can not be understated. We are here because they government acted through threats to social media companies to censor “disfavored” viewpoints. Every case against a social media company for their TOS or their censorship moves has failed because Plaintiffs have targeted the social media company rather than the government. One exception I know of off the top of my head is the Berenson case, and he settled.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Took a quick pause for my carnivore lunch. Back in a moment.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
My thread broke here for some reason. No, I didn't take a VERY extended carnivore lunch..... https://t.co/hSVRWeyvDG
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
BOMBSHELL REPORT ON THE CENSORSHIP-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX HUNDREDS of secret reports show how @DHSgov’s @CISAgov, The GEC (@StateDept), @Stanford and others worked together to censor AMERICANS before the 2020 election, including true information, jokes, and opinions. 🧵 THREAD:
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
The federal government, disinformation “experts” at universities, Big Tech, and others worked together through the Election Integrity Partnership to monitor & censor Americans’ speech.
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
According to one EIP member, the EIP was created “at the request of CISA.” The head of the EIP also said that EIP was created after “working on some monitoring ideas with CISA.”
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
Here’s how it worked: -EIP “stakeholders” (including the federal gov’t) would submit misinformation reports -EIP would “analyze” the report and find similar content across platforms -EIP would submit the report to Big Tech, often with a recommendation on how to censor
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
.@JudiciaryGOP & @Weaponization obtained these nonpublic documents and information from @Stanford only after the threat of contempt. You can read all the details in the report here: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/EIP_Jira_Ticket_Staff_Report_11-6-23_Clean.pdf
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
Who was targeted? Americans of all political stripes, but especially conservatives: @realDonaldTrump@SenThomTillis@newtgingrich@GovMikeHuckabee@mtgreenee@seanhannity@MZHemingway@pnjaban@charliekirk11@RealCandaceO@JackPosobiec@bennyjohnson@TomFitton@TheBabylonBee
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
And it didn’t stop there, here are some more accounts that were targeted: @NEWSMAX@michellemalkin@seanmdav@RubinReport@paulsperry_@tracybeanz @ChanelRion @JamesOKeefeIII
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
What speech was targeted for censorship? -True information -Jokes -Political opinions Here are a few examples:
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
Who did we miss? Did you have a social media post that was targeted by the EIP? It’s clear why @Stanford tried only produced these after @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponization threatened contempt.
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
The American people deserve to know if they were targeted by their own government and so-called “disinformation” experts. The Committee is making the data from these reports publicly available here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSbP06KE51ds51-Ha6MXkuyoWuCLW168Wz9CMBbhe1BV1IVLxG660eDBUpaVw_Hs5KdhvTvOLS7BUit/pubhtml?widget=true&headers=false
@Jim_Jordan - Rep. Jim Jordan
As always, more to come. Read our report here: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/EIP_Jira_Ticket_Staff_Report_11-6-23_Clean.pdf Stay tuned…
@elonmusk - Elon Musk
This is a big deal
@KanekoaTheGreat - KanekoaTheGreat
.@shellenberger testifies about the censorship-industrial complex, the network of U.S. government agencies, contractors, and big tech platforms conspiring to censor ordinary American citizens. Internal files from the Cyber Threat Intelligence League reveal military contractors using psychological operations against Americans. Critics argue social media platforms have the right to censor, but evidence suggests government involvement violating the First Amendment. "The Supreme Court has ruled that the government may not induce, encourage, or promote private persons to accomplish what is constitutionally forbidden. There is now a large body of evidence proving that the government did precisely that. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) has been at the center of gravity for much of the censorship, with the National Science Foundation financing the development of censorship and disinformation tools and other federal government agencies playing a supportive role. Emails from CISA's NGO and social media partners show that CISA created the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) in 2020, which involved the Stanford Internet Observatory and other U.S. Government contractors. EIP and its successor, the Virality Project, urged Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms to censor ordinary citizens' and elected officials' social media posts. EIP reported a 75% response rate from the platforms and that 35% of the URLs they reported were either removed, labeled, throttled, or soft-blocked. In 2020, CISA violated the First Amendment and interfered in the election. In 2021, CISA and the White House violated the First Amendment and undermined America's response to the COVID pandemic by demanding that Facebook and Twitter censor content that Facebook itself said was "often true," including about vaccine side effects. This is profoundly unAmerican. I encourage Congress to defund and dismantle the government organizations involved in censorship. That includes phasing out all funding for the National Science Foundation's Track F Trust and Authenticity and Communication Systems and its Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Track. I also encourage Congress to abolish CISA in DHS. Short of taking those steps, I encourage significant guardrails and oversight to prevent such censorship from happening again."
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨CENSORSHIP SCANDAL EXPOSED — We just unearthed evidence that Biden’s DHS and State Dept. mobilized federal counterterrorism assets to support a foreign-based organization censoring American speech: the Center for Countering Digital Hate. THREAD:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/2 From the day it took power, the Biden Administration mobilized the national security state to support its censorship program. On June 15, 2021, Biden’s National Security Council published its first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/3 To justify censorship, Biden’s strategy asserted that “Internet-based communications platforms” make Americans “vulnerab[le] to domestic terrorist recruitment and other harmful content.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/4 Effectively, the Biden Administration turned to the national security state and its allied technology companies to censor political opponents.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/5 In Orwellian fashion, it said: “All told, a better, more holistic, and coordinated understanding of and information sharing on today’s threat will allow a more effective and comprehensive response. That response will address not just current and imminent incarnations of the domestic terrorism threat but also its contributing factors before they can generate still more violence in the future.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/6 As the Biden Strategy explained, as part of its effort to control information, “We will also build a community” of “critical partners,” including “state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as foreign allies and partners, civil society, the technology sector, academia, and more.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/7 These “interlocking communities that can contribute information, expertise, analysis, and more” and “With the right orientation and partnerships, the Federal Government can energize, connect, and empower those communities - communities whose input was critical to the formulation of this Strategy itself.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/8 Accordingly, it declared that “in a global, multi-stakeholder setting - with partner governments - the United States endorses the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/9 In 2019, the Trump Administration had refused this “call to action” on free speech grounds. In fact, on the same day that the Trump Administration announced that it was passing on this international initiative censorship initiative, it reportedly released an online tool for users to report if they suspect they’ve been the subject of “political bias” by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or other online platforms.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/10 Biden’s government claimed that “Maximizing the Federal Government’s understanding of [domestic terrorism] means supporting and making appropriate use of the analysis performed by entities outside the government…” CCDH was one such entity.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/11 CCDH is a United Kingdom-based nonprofit that has been encouraging censorship online for years. It originates from and is staffed with many individuals in the United Kingdom. However, it has been incorporated in the United States and registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the United States, effective December 11, 2020.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/12 CCDH describes itself as a “not-for-profit non-governmental organization” that “works to stop the spread of online hate and disinformation through innovative research, public campaigns and policy advocacy.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/13 It describes its founder and CEO, Imran Ahmed, as an “authority on social and psychological malignancies on social media, such as identity-based hate, extremism, disinformation, and conspiracy theories.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/14 However, Ahmed is a leftist political operative connected to the UK Labour Party. Through his work with Stop Funding Fake News (SFFN), which was later folded into CCDH, Imran Ahmed took credit for a so-called “defund racism” campaign associated with Black Lives Matter to force Google to remove their ads from The Federalist and ZeroHedge.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/15 CCDH is best known for its March 24, 2021 report “THE DISINFORMATION DOZEN: Why platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers” which branded 12 Americans, including @RobertKennedyJr, “anti-vaxxers…responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms,” and called for them to be deplatformed.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /16 As the Missouri v. Biden case revealed, Biden White House officials quickly pressured social media companies to deplatform and demote “the disinfo dozen.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/17 On July 15, 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted to “flagging problematic posts for Facebook.” Presumably citing CCDH’s report, Psaki also implied that the “12 people who are producing 65 percent of anti-vaccine misinformation [should not] remain active on Facebook.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /19 On or around March 29, 2022, Robert Silvers — the DHS Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans who co-chaired the short-lived Disinformation Governance Board with Nina Jankowicz — connected with CCDH’s then-Head of Policy, Eva Hartshorn-Sanders, via LinkedIn.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/20 On March 29, 2022, Eva Hartshorn-Sanders emailed Robert Silvers “to meet to discuss research that [CCDH] released and coming up in the next couple of weeks, and ... to hear about work that [DHS] ha[s] underway, including more about the strategies and plans that [the DHS] team have developed.” Eva also invited Robert to CCDH’s Global Summit and Changemakers Dinner.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /21 In addition to her lead policy role at CCDH, Eva Hartshorn-Sanders separately provides “[l]eading Government advice on the response to the March 15 terrorist attacks on Christchurch mosques.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/22 Eva Hartshorn-Sanders promoted online censorship legislation around the world, including the UK’s Online Safety Bill, testifying before the House of Commons that “websites like The Gateway Pundit profit from Google ads to the tune of over $1 million while spreading election disinformation. That has led to real-world death threats sent to election officials and contributed to the events of 6 January. It is not something we want to see replicated in the UK.” Eva Hartshorn-Sanders also opposed a principle “that is framed negatively about preventing platforms from removing content, rather than positively about addressing content that undermines elections.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /23 Robert Silvers quickly replied, “I am copying our Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, Lucian Sikorskyj, to follow up and pursue these opportunities.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /24 The next day, on March 30, 2022, Eva Hartshorn-Sanders also invited the DHS Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism to CCDH’s Global Summit and Changemakers Dinner, and they began scheduling for a call “in the next few weeks.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /25 By June 16, 2022, a White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse was established under the leadership of the Director of the White House Gender Policy Council and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /26 By September 23, 2022, CCDH was directly meeting with officials from the White House, the NSC, and the Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT), updating them with CCDH’s latest findings.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /27 On September 30, 2022, CCDH formally submitted its research and policy recommendations on technology-facilitated gender-based violence to the White House Task Force.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/28 Its submission highlighted how CCDH “studied the way anti-vaccine extremists, hate actors, climate change deniers, and misogynists weaponize platforms to spread lies and attack marginalized groups,” and developed policy and legislation to “ensure that social media platforms meet [CCDH’s framework] for addressing digital hate and disinformation, embedding Safety by Design, Transparency requirements (on algorithms, rules enforcement and economics), Accountability and Responsibility.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/29 On March 3, 2023, the White House published its Initial Blueprint for the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse. The Blueprint highlighted federal research funding, “Digital Equity” grants, Department of Education guidance to be issued to colleges, and an FTC enforcement action against a gaming platform.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /30 According to Eva Hartshorn-Sanders, CCDH was “able to feed in research and policy recommendations for its development.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@RobertKennedyJr /31 Read more here… https://aflegal.org/government-documents-confirm-the-biden-administrations-mobilization-of-u-s-counterterrorism-assets-to-support-imran-ahmeds-global-censorship-campaign/
@JudiciaryGOP - House Judiciary GOP
NEW 800 page report exposes the Biden White House censorship regime. Features internal emails and texts from Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon, and YouTube employees. Read these damning discoveries from @Weaponization here: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Censorship-Industrial-Complex-WH-Report_Appendix.pdf
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
Here are 10 flaming examples of times Facebook, YouTube & Amazon explicitly said they only passed censorship policies bc they were threatened by the Biden government https://t.co/iAkx3z9olk
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 We obtained new docs from the Brennan-Clapper DHS intel group revealing the Biden admin developed a classified plan to expand monitoring of political dissent. #DeepStateDiaries PART 5:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/2 Today, we are releasing the fifth tranche of internal files from the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” obtained exclusively through our litigation with @RichardGrenell against the Biden DHS:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨VICTORY🚨 The Biden Admin will dissolve & disband its unlawful DHS Intelligence Experts Group stacked with deep state partisans like James Clapper and John Brennan following our lawsuit with @RichardGrenell They are also turning over their internal docs to our possession:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/3 From the day President Biden took power, he has mobilized the national security state to support its censorship program…
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/4 In June 2021, the Biden Administration’s National Security Council published its first-ever “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism,” a 32-page plan that outlined their whole-of-government effort to work with Big Tech, state and local governments, non-profits, and others to censor political speech and surveil political dissent.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/5 AFL has been investigating the Administration’s implementation of this “Domestic Surveillance Strategy” since 2021, including filing a lawsuit against DHS to compel the release of records relating to how DHS uses its intelligence capabilities to target conservative Americans.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/6 You can read more about that lawsuit here: https://aflegal.org/afl-sues-the-department-of-homeland-security-for-records-about-the-biden-administrations-alliance-with-big-tech-to-spy-on-private-citizens-social-media-activity/
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/7 Today, AFL’s litigation against the DHS Intelligence Experts Group has obtained never before released documents exposing that the Biden Administration published a classified implementation plan to accompany their public-facing 2021 Domestic Surveillance Strategy.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/8 This classified plan has not been reported publicly until today. No one in the general public knows what’s in it, what it directs departments and agencies to do, or the scope of agencies involved with it.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/9 This is not the first time AFL has discovered the Biden Administration using classified systems to target political dissent. In January 2023, AFL’s lawsuit against the CDC uncovered that the CDC partnered with the State Department, USAID, the Census Bureau, and others on an NSC classified call to discuss censoring so-called “disinformation.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/10 Stay tuned for the next installment of #DeepStateDiaries https://aflegal.org/exclusive-new-docs-reveal-the-biden-admin-developed-a-classified-plan-to-expand-monitoring-of-political-dissent/
@KanekoaTheGreat - KanekoaTheGreat
BREAKING: @Weaponization just dropped a MASSIVE 17,000-page report on the Biden Admin's weaponized federal government. Emails reveal an alarming level of collusion between DHS/CISA, Stanford University, the Atlantic Council, and Big Tech to create the "Election Integrity Partnership's" censorship machine. • Graham Brookie of the Atlantic Council's DFR Labs wrote: "We just set up an election integrity partnership at the request of DHS/CISA." • A redacted Facebook executive spilled the beans in an email about a call with DHS, saying: "DHS cannot openly endorse the portal." • Alex Stamos of the Stanford Internet Observatory emailed NextDoor executives: "We already have partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, and Google, and we would love to chat with you and your team." This is some next-level dystopian sh*t. So how does the Trump admin make sure this BS doesn't happen again?
@KanekoaTheGreat - KanekoaTheGreat
Final Report: The Weaponization of the Federal Government https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/final-report-weaponization-federal-government
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
🔥 “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!” Musk Exposes Labour’s Secret U.S. Meddling 🚨 UK Labour accuses Elon Musk of undermining British democracy. But what if the real story is THEIR meddling in U.S. elections? 💥 Black ops, FEC complaints, and a crackdown on free speech—it’s a diplomatic bombshell with global implications. Here’s the full story 🧵
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
1/ Labour’s Accusations Against Musk 🇬🇧 In a viral post shared by Elon, Labour MP Barry Gardiner accused Musk of “undermining democracy”, claiming his criticism of the UK government was an attack on a “recently, democratically elected government.” But the allegations quickly turned back on Labour… 👇
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
2/ Musk Fires Back via Matt Goodwin Political analyst @GoodwinMJ called out Labour’s hypocrisy: “Barry, you belong to a party that sent activists to America to actively plot to, and I quote, ‘kill Elon Musk’s Twitter.’" Goodwin also highlighted Labour’s history of attacking Musk, Trump, and other dissenters. 🔗More details here: https://sayerji.substack.com/p/crossfire-of-democracy-uk-labour
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
3/ Labour’s U.S. Election Meddling 🇺🇸 Sofia Patel, Labour’s Head of Operations, was caught on LinkedIn coordinating activists to campaign for Harris-Walz in U.S. battleground states: ❗️Nearly 100 volunteers recruited. ❗️Housing & logistics arranged. As a result, Trump filed an FEC complaint, alleging illegal foreign contributions. 📖 Read more: bbc.com/news/articles/…
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
4/ The CCDH Connection 🌍 Labour’s ties to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) deepen the scandal: ❗️CCDH ran “black ops” targeting RFK Jr. and Elon Musk, aiming to suppress their influence and silence dissent. https://greenmedinfo.com/content/exposed-ccdh-ceo-imran-ahmed-orders-black-ops-against-rfk-jr-shocking-memo-lea ❗️Leaked directive: “Kill Musk’s Twitter” aimed to silence dissent and trigger U.S. & EU regulatory action. https://greenmedinfo.com/content/breaking-kill-musks-twitter-leaked-docs-reveal-british-advisors-kamala-harris- 🚨Morgan McSweeney, founder of CCDH, adds another layer of controversy: McSweeney is not only tied to CCDH but also served as key advisers to both Keir Starmer and Kamala Harris’s campaign, creating potential conflicts of interest that fuel allegations of coordinated interference. This web of influence reveals CCDH as more than just an NGO—it’s a political weapon for suppressing opposition and shaping narratives globally.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
5/ 🚨But Labour Interferes in Their OWN Elections Too The hypocrisy is staggering: while accusing Musk of meddling, Labour-linked groups like CCDH and Hope Not Hate (HNH) have interfered in UK elections: ⁉️Susan Hall’s Mayoral Race: CCDH’s sister NGO, HNH, received funding from the UK’s Counter Extremism Unit, which was used to target Hall. NHN, the same NGO who UK grooming rape gang whistleblower @TRobinsonNewEra exposed, a British taxpayer-funded, government-directed NGO openly took credit for stealing her election chances as detailed below. These groups manipulate elections under the guise of combating "extremism" while crushing dissent. 🧩 Shared Staff: Jemma Levene, former Deputy Director of HNH, is now COO at CCDH. 📖 Full details from @CharlotteCGill : https://www.charlottecgill.co.uk/p/who-funds-you-hope-not-hate-case
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
6/ Dark Money Funders 💰 CCDH and HNH act as proxies for government influence, using funds from: 💵Paul Hamlyn Foundation 💵Burrow Cadbury Trust 💵Rowntree Charitable Trust These organizations export their playbook globally, from targeting Cindy Hall in the UK to running black ops against RFK Jr. (the "disinfo dozen") and Musk in the U.S. In fact, leaked documents obtained via an @America1stLegal FOIA request reveal that as early as 2021, the Biden-Harris administration received a “masterclass” in censorship from the UK’s Countering Disinformation Unit (CDU); an interagency meeting which included discussing censoring election-related content, and which promoted a leftist, "woke" dogma. 🇬🇧 This shocking collaboration shows that the UK’s meddling in U.S. democratic institutions has been happening long before the recent election interference controversy surfaced. 📖 Learn more about this troubling, globally coordinated foreign influence operation attempting to censor, adjudicate and criminalize all free speech online: https://greenmedinfo.com/content/america-first-legal-obtains-new-internal-cdc-documents-revealing-foreign-collu 👉Learn more about CCDH's Funders: https://greenmedinfo.com/content/17-dark-money-funders-behind-ccdhs-kill-elon-s-twitter-directive1
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
7/ EO 13848 + U.S. Laws UK's Labour Party May Have Violated ⚖️ 1️⃣ EO 13848 (Executive Order 13848): ✅Signed in 2018 to address foreign interference in U.S. elections after allegations of Russian meddling in 2016. It targets any foreign entity attempting to: 🚨Undermine public confidence in elections. 🚨Manipulate outcomes through covert or overt means (e.g., disinformation or logistical support). 🚨Violators can face asset freezes, sanctions, and more. ✅Labour’s coordinated campaigns and CCDH’s black ops could fall squarely under this order’s provisions. 2️⃣ FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act): ✅Requires foreign entities or individuals working to influence U.S. politics on behalf of a foreign principal to register with the DOJ. 🚨Labour’s U.S.-based operations, including activist deployment and links to CCDH, could violate this act if unregistered. ❗️Penalties: Fines, prison, or forced disclosure of all activities and funding sources. 3️⃣ FECA (Federal Election Campaign Act) ✅Prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to U.S. elections, whether financially or through in-kind contributions like housing and logistics. 🚨Sofia Patel’s alleged coordination of activists to assist Harris-Walz in battleground states could breach FECA if Labour provided any form of support. These laws exist to protect U.S. democracy from foreign manipulation. Labour’s actions, if proven, may trigger serious consequences. 🔗Read Trump's complaint against the UK: https://greenmedinfo.com/content/re-complaint-against-labour-party-united-kingdom-and-harris-president
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
8/ Hypocrisy Exposed 🤔 While Labour accuses Musk of meddling in UK democracy, their alleged actions in the U.S.—sending activists, suppressing speech, and coordinating with CCDH—show a troubling pattern of interference. Who is really undermining democracy?
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
9/ Musk Calls Out ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!’ 💥 @elonmusk has publicly blasted Labour, CCDH, and their allies, accusing them of orchestrating attacks on free speech and election integrity—not just in the UK, but in the US as well! The UK’s Online Safety Bill is so tyrannical it could allow Britain to prosecute U.S. citizens for violating their speech laws, effectively reviving “seditious libel laws” against a former colony. This isn’t just hypocrisy—it’s a diplomatic crisis. Elon Musk’s fight for free speech may be the last line of defense for countries where freedoms are being systematically eroded. If speech is silenced everywhere else, platforms like X remain a beacon of hope. 🔥Learn more by reading: The 'Kill Musk’s Twitter' Directive: A Modern 1776 Stand Against a Global Plot for Censorship and Election Interference https://greenmedinfo.com/content/kill-musk-s-twitter-directive-modern-1776-stand-against-global-plot-censorship2 #ElectionInterference #FreeSpeech #Musk #UKLabour #CCDH #DiplomaticCrisis
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
10/ Wrapping Up 🚨🇺🇸🇬🇧 As Trump’s campaign gains momentum, his FEC complaint against Labour awaits action—and if re-elected, he’s likely to pursue justice for these alleged foreign interference acts. Meanwhile, Elon faces growing pressure, with the EU Commission being urged to act over his so-called “election meddling.” What’s at Stake? 🗣️ Free Speech: CCDH’s campaigns threaten global discourse. 🗳️ Election Integrity: Labour’s actions undermine democracy. 🇺🇸🇬🇧 U.S.-UK Relations: These tensions could fracture transatlantic ties. What’s Next? Labour and CCDH must come clean. A public apology and reset may be their only way to avoid further fallout. Will they own up—or double down? #ElectionInterference #FreeSpeech #Musk #Trump #UKLabour #CCDH
@elonmusk - Elon Musk
USAID has been paying media organizations to publish their propaganda
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
Why was USAID actively instructing media organizations around the world to "AGREE POLICIES ON STRATEGIC SILENCE" to all collectively censor social media narratives? https://t.co/oYz0BKjG29
@elonmusk - Elon Musk
USAID has been paying media organizations to publish their propaganda
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
Why was USAID actively instructing media organizations around the world to "AGREE POLICIES ON STRATEGIC SILENCE" to all collectively censor social media narratives? https://t.co/oYz0BKjG29
@merissahansen17 - Merissa Hansen
@elonmusk https://t.co/kXZhZmAWme
@merissahansen17 - Merissa Hansen
In 2022 USAID forecasted allocating $2.6 Billion to Gender Funding Plans. https://t.co/HDWZ3N0cpr
@elonmusk - Elon Musk
USAID has been paying media organizations to publish their propaganda
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
Why was USAID actively instructing media organizations around the world to "AGREE POLICIES ON STRATEGIC SILENCE" to all collectively censor social media narratives? https://t.co/oYz0BKjG29
@merissahansen17 - Merissa Hansen
@elonmusk https://t.co/qXoeRWp5ah
@merissahansen17 - Merissa Hansen
Who remembers the Military Coup in Myanmar back in 2021? The regime change that occurred in 2015, which led to the coup seemed to be led by CIA cutouts and USAID. It would only be natural for USAID to redirect $42 million of funds to try and take back control of Myanmar. https://t.co/LfbM8aAB7s
@JimFergusonUK - Jim Ferguson
BREAKING: 🚨 DOGE UNCOVERS USAID-FUNDED INTERNET CENSORSHIP OPERATION IN LONDON – RUN BY NINA JANKOWICZ! 🚨 🇬🇧🇺🇸 The TRUTH is out—USAID was secretly funding a massive misinformation & internet censorship project in London, headed by none other than Nina Jankowicz—Biden’s "Disinformation Czar." 🔴 Jankowicz, infamous for her cringe-worthy “disinfo” musical, was put in charge of Biden’s Orwellian Ministry of Truth. 🔴 Now we learn she’s been running a censorship machine FUNDED by American taxpayer dollars through USAID. 🔴 Globalist-backed suppression of free speech, exported across the Atlantic. 🔥 The Deep State’s global censorship network is being exposed— this wasn’t just about America. It was a coordinated effort to silence voices worldwide. Now, it’s ALL coming to light. 🔥
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
🚨 BREAKING: The UK Just Ordered Apple to Kill Encryption for 2 Billion People—And They Can’t Even Talk About It 🚨 A global privacy nightmare is unfolding. The UK government secretly ordered Apple to backdoor encrypted iCloud storage worldwide—but Apple is legally forbidden from revealing this order, or they face criminal charges. This affects 2 BILLION USERS. Here’s the full story & why it’s part of a much bigger power grab. 🧵👇
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
1/ Under the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016, Apple was served a Technical Capability Notice (TCN)—forcing them to create a backdoor for encrypted iCloud data. This is not limited to UK users. It applies worldwide, meaning your private files are at risk, no matter where you live. 🔗@macworld report: https://www.macworld.com/article/2602513/uk-demands-backdoor-to-apples-encrypted-cloud-storage-putting-everyone-at-risk.html
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
2/ Apple is legally forbidden from revealing this order. If Apple even acknowledges that the UK issued this demand, they could face criminal charges. This is a secret government order with global consequences.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
3/ This isn’t just about the UK (although they are leading the charge in threatening citizens in OTHER countries for violating BRITISH censorship laws!) If Apple complies, every government in the world will demand the same access—from the US to China to authoritarian regimes. End-to-end encryption would be effectively dead.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
4/ Apple’s Choice: 🔓 Comply & weaken encryption globally 🚪 Refuse & withdraw services from the UK WhatsApp & Signal faced similar threats last year and vowed to leave the UK rather than compromise security. Will Apple do the same? 🚨Watch the heated discussion between Damian Collins, director of CCDH (architect of the UK Online Safety Bill), and Signal’s CEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E--bVV_eQR0
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
5/ Why This Matters: ☑️Encryption protects financial data, health records, personal security (e.g. where you live or work), and private conversations. ☑️Governments always say they need backdoors for national security—but history shows they’re used for mass surveillance. ☑️Once a backdoor exists, hackers, rogue employees, and other governments WILL find it.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
6/ The UK is trying to dominate the global surveillance & censorship landscape. The UK is part of Five Eyes (UK, US, Canada, Australia, NZ), but notably, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have supported strong encryption to mitigate cyber threats. Yet, the UK stands alone in its war on encryption.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
7/ The Free Speech Crackdown 🛑 This isn’t just about encryption—it’s about control. Governments worldwide are criminalizing dissent and censoring free speech, using tech companies as their enforcement arms. 🔗 GreenMedInfo Report: https://greenmedinfo.com/content/breaking-international-governments-are-criminalizing-free-speech-through-glo-3
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
8/ This ties into the UK’s broader, GLOBALLY ORCHESTATED censorship agenda: ⚠️ The Online Safety Bill criminalizes encrypted messaging & forces platforms to scan private messages. ⚠️ The Digital Services Act (EU) gives governments the power to shut down online content they don’t like. ⚠️ Leaked US-UK documents show direct coordination between UK intelligence & the Biden administration to censor online speech: 🚨Learn more about the global plot to adjudicate and criminalize free speech involving bilateral engagement with 20+ countries, and coordination with NATO and the G7: https://greenmedinfo.com/content/america-first-legal-obtains-new-internal-cdc-documents-revealing-foreign-collu (@America1stLegal's CDC lawsuit revealed this plot)
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
9/ Meet the architects of speech policing: CCDH 🕵️♂️ The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)—a UK intelligence-backed group—has been a driving force behind global censorship. They were caught: 🔥 Running “black ops” to suppress RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign. 🔥 Leading the "Kill Musk’s Twitter" directive, trying to shut down free speech on X. 🔥 Labeling 12 private US citizens as the “Disinformation Dozen” to justify mass censorship. 🔗 Reclaim the Net Investigation: https://reclaimthenet.org/black-ops-how-a-us-uk-censorship-group-targeted-rfk-jr-to-stifle-dissent The same UK group behind mass censorship also helped design the UK’s anti-encryption policies via the UK Online Safety Bill passed in 2024.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
10/ The Pattern is Clear: 1️⃣ Governments create "safety" laws to justify surveillance. 2️⃣ They pressure tech companies to enforce censorship. 3️⃣ Once encrypted services are gone, nothing is private anymore. This is the biggest attack on digital freedom in history. And most recently @elonmusk and @lindayaX appear to have taken the bait by backing the Kids Online Safety Bill (KOSA) - a 'child safety' bill trojan horse for draconian censorship: https://sayerji.substack.com/p/alert-elon-musk-endorses-ccdh-backed?utm_source=publication-search
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
11/ What Can We Do? 🔹 Support companies that refuse to build backdoors (Signal, ProtonMail, etc.). 🔹 Push for legislation that protects encryption & free speech. 🔹 Stay informed & spread awareness—governments count on secrecy to push these policies through. 🔹 Follow and support privacy and internet freedom organizations such as: @G_W_Forum @FFO_Freedom @ReclaimTheNetHQ @standforhealth1 @ChildrensHD @brownstoneinst @anhcampaign @FreeWCH @TheNHF
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
12/ This is the ultimate power grab: controlling all digital communication. If Apple caves, every other platform will be forced to follow. 📌 The UK’s Global Playbook: 🔹 A backdoor to encryption (Investigatory Powers Act). 🔹 A government-linked censorship network (CCDH). 🔹 A speech-policing framework that extends worldwide (Online Safety Bill). This is a global effort to control what people can say, share, and store privately.
@sayerjigmi - Sayer Ji
13/ Final Warning: This is bigger than Apple. It’s about the future of free expression, privacy, and online autonomy. 📣 We are at a crossroads: If we don’t fight back, encryption is gone. If we don’t push back, speech is controlled. This is the modern battle for digital freedom. Support independent journalists like @VigilantFox @TheChiefNerd @KanekoaTheGreat @HealthRanger @zeee_media @newstart_2024 @RenzTom and spread the word!
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The Left spent the past decade building a vast censorship enterprise. A shadowy network of NGOs, tech groups and governments working to censor the Left's enemies—not just in America, but across the West. Over the next four years, the GOP must expose + dismantle this system. 🧵 https://t.co/XH2EkdGaoM
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The censorship-industrial complex wasn't built overnight. It's been festering for years. But the Biden administration mobilized an unholy alliance of government power, taxpayer dollars, NGOs and Big Tech companies to build it into a global censorship powerhouse.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Seemingly every agency was a partner in building this system: FBI, CIA, NSA, DHS, State Department, Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, USAID—even FEMA. Through grants and partnerships, these agencies funneled countless tax dollars to censorship groups. https://t.co/GahTDypN0Z
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
What you have to understand is that these groups operate as one cohesive class. There's a revolving door between the "public" and "private" spheres. Former government officials populate the advisory boards of these "disinformation" groups—and vice versa. https://t.co/jspbxJHAIW
@shellenberger - Michael Shellenberger
The groups behind the X/Twitter ad boycott say they're "nongovernmental," but they're not. They're funded by governments, work with intel agencies, and/or were caught spying for governments. Congress & UK Parliament must investigate this government-backed assault on free speech. https://t.co/bl3T3zwSv7
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Biden's transition team was STACKED with tech insiders. They staffed the entire executive branch—State, Treasury, EPA, OMB, etc. Many of them were Obama alumni. When Obama left office, they went to work in tech. When Biden's presidency began, they transitioned right back in. https://t.co/JLJxbD0amy
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
So it should come as no surprise that these worlds are in constant communication with one another. Remember Jen Psaki boasting that they were "flagging problematic posts" for Facebook? These weren't independent actors. Under the Biden administration, it was one system. https://t.co/m2HyXSkZo4
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
And Biden officials didn't just "flag" content. They pushed platforms to transform their algorithms to suppress ideas they disliked. In an email, Biden's Digital Director told YouTube that "this is a concern that is shared at the highest (and I mean highest) levels of the WH." https://t.co/ygBLdqFIuX
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Those are just a few minor examples of a trend that accelerated over the past decade: Western governments creating, funding or coordinating with powerful outside groups to clamp down on (mostly right-wing) dissent. Just look at the State Department's "Global Engagement Center." https://t.co/ea8PHzxanq
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Between 2020 and 2021, two State Department-backed entities—the Global Engagement Center (GEC) and the National Endowment for Democracy—funneled $665,000 to the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British nonprofit which creates secretive blacklists of conservative media. https://t.co/ApmALKOYPr
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
GDI's blacklists were stealthily fed to advertising companies to financially cripple targeted news outlets. The top 10 outlets on its "disinformation" list are all conservative. GDI's CEO openly boasted that this had "a significant impact on" the outlets' "advertising revenue." https://t.co/k37XXgyPVF
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The GEC was created to combat FOREIGN propaganda aimed at undermining US security. But instead, it was turned inwards on our own citizens. We've seen this stuff happen across our intelligence and security agencies. I fought to shutter the GEC—for good. https://t.co/Zfmi7fDlIU
@SenEricSchmitt - Senator Eric Schmitt
The Global Engagement Center must be excluded from any subsequent piece of legislation for the remainder of the 118th Congress. The American people deserve to know their First Amendment rights are being protected. https://t.co/dxU8V5clAz
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
During the 2020 election—under President Trump's first term—the Department of Homeland Security's CISA formed a "counter-disinformation" coalition with powerful outside censorship groups. Here's what that network did during that election cycle alone, per @FFO_Freedom's analysis: https://t.co/XbeAfYln84
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
This system operates across the borders of the West—giving it yet another way around our Constitution. When their censorship machine faced legal challenges in the US, Biden officials and their nonprofit allies began using foreign censorship laws to crack down on American speech. https://t.co/pvZ3tMoSAt
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
At least 23 US-funded NGOs, nonprofits and "disinformation" groups have received nearly $15.5 million of your tax dollars to help enforce the EU's draconian new Digital Services Act—which levies hefty fines on tech platforms (including US platforms) for allowing "disinformation." https://t.co/mCcBfjMSiH
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
In other words: Using these groups, our government was helping European bureaucrats bully US tech companies into censoring American speech. That includes groups like NewsGuard—whose advisory board has boasted the former heads of the CIA and NSA, DHS, and the GEC, respectively. https://t.co/WQekCCwPVl
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
To sum things up: American and European bureaucrats, along with their friends in the NGOs and the tech companies, have been working together to wage a war of censorship and suppression against their own citizens across the West.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
I fought this censorship-industrial complex as Attorney General of Missouri, where I sued the Biden admin for pressuring tech platforms into censoring conservatives—and took them to the Supreme Court. Now it's time to work with President Trump to end this once and for all. https://t.co/hUPYmxdyX2
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Thankfully, President Trump is dismantling the government arm of this regime. The State Department's Global Engagement Center has been shut down. Funding streams for "disinformation" groups have been cut. But many of the "private" censorship NGOs are still operating as we speak. https://t.co/jX9d5Nkri2
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The stories I've shared in this thread are just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned. This fight is just getting started.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
We’re going to continue this NGO investigation. I discussed today with @dbongino: https://t.co/XY7a1DdVm2
@laralogan - Lara Logan
This is a real conspiracy to subvert the constitution & the will of the American people.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨BREAKING — Explosive new documents expose a massive government-backed censorship operation orchestrated by USAID, the Global Engagement Center, the UK government, and media firms to manipulate public discourse and silence Americans. https://t.co/ScJJeYoFcJ
@MarioNawfal - Mario Nawfal
🚨🇺🇸 FEDERAL JUDGE TAKES OVER USAID HIRING — BLOCKS TRUMP PICK Judge Theodore D. Chuang has barred Jeremy Lewin, a former DOGE team member, from becoming Deputy Administrator of USAID. Instead of letting the administration make its own staffing decisions, Judge Chuang decided Lewin’s loyalty to Trump disqualified him. Government lawyers asked for clarity — the judge flat-out denied it and warned he could expand the ban if they try any workarounds. In effect, one judge is now acting as the self-appointed HR department for the federal government... Source: @amuse
@MarioNawfal - Mario Nawfal
🚨🇺🇸 EXPOSED: U.S. GOVERNMENT, UK, AND MEDIA FIRMS RAN CENSORSHIP NETWORK — DOCUMENTS REVEAL Bombshell court filings and leaked internal emails show a coordinated censorship machine run by the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), USAID, foreign governments including the UK, and major media companies. The GEC produced weekly reports flagging COVID-19 narratives, election content, and foreign messaging — often targeting speech from American citizens under the guise of "disinformation." Congress never reauthorized the GEC. It will shut down on December 23, 2024 — but documents confirm staff and funding are being quietly reassigned to keep the system alive. Source:@America1stLegal
@MarioNawfal - Mario Nawfal
🇺🇸THE CRAZIEST THINGS USAID SPENT YOUR TAX DOLLARS ON—A THREAD USAID was supposed to fund development and humanitarian aid. Instead, millions of your tax dollars went to some of the most bizarre, wasteful, and outright questionable projects imaginable. From foreign DEI
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Across the West, our civilization is threatened by a radical network of NGOs. These groups lie behind almost every crisis of our time—from mass censorship to mass migration. Tomorrow, we're going to expose their war on freedom of speech. 🧵 https://t.co/f2my8f4yxJ
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
In the internet age, information is power. The Left knows the stakes. That's why they've waged a decade-long, multi-billion-dollar campaign to control what you see and say online. I explained how their censorship operation works earlier this month: https://t.co/vNDBYyzQiT
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The Left spent the past decade building a vast censorship enterprise. A shadowy network of NGOs, tech groups and governments working to censor the Left's enemies—not just in America, but across the West. Over the next four years, the GOP must expose + dismantle this system. 🧵 https://t.co/XH2EkdGaoM
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
This operation is a dangerous marriage of public and private power—a global system of security agencies, tech firms, activist groups, nonprofits, media orgs and government bureaucracies taking what they describe as a "whole-of-society" approach to censoring disfavored speech. https://t.co/L6mLLdhyTt
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
All of this is completely unprecedented. It's an entirely new, sprawling system of speech and thought control—far more powerful and far-reaching than anything we've seen the past, built with and for the new technology of the digital age. And most of it operates in the shadows. https://t.co/wzUlFSCaYx
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The censorship enterprise is enabled by a vast ecosystem of "non-governmental organizations" (NGOs). These groups represent a fifth column in American politics—a shadow state that serves the interests of the ruling elite, with no accountability to the society it wields power in. https://t.co/RWL0w9nv5F
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
I went into detail about who these groups are, what they do, and how they coordinate with elites in government and elsewhere in my thread earlier this month. We'll get into it much more in tomorrow's hearing too. But let me briefly tell you why this is of such urgent importance.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
In the 21st century, the internet is the new public square. This is where people get the information they need to understand the world. It's where they read, write, argue, and learn. It's where they shape the ideas that will define the future. It's where politics happens. https://t.co/oJ4xGrtP7E
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
That's why this fight matters. The fight for freedom of speech online is the fight for a free people's right to access, analyze, share and discuss information on their own terms, and to draw their own conclusions. In that sense, it's the fight for self-government itself.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The assault on free speech across the West isn't happening in a vacuum. It's inextricably connected to the war on our shared history, heritage, and identity. In other parts of the West—where the crisis is much further along—politicians admit this openly: https://t.co/wYgCtgEfr0
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
You heard the Australian Premier above: They need censorship to carry out their entire social agenda. In America, too, this is part of a much deeper war on *who we are.* It's a tool to silence the critics of the disastrous social transformation that the Left wants to carry out.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
And—as we'll discuss tomorrow—it's all funded by your tax dollars. The sprawling labyrinth of leftist NGOs, nonprofits, foundations and activist groups that drive this agenda don't just work hand-in-glove with their friends in the federal bureaucracy; they're paid by them, too.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
At our hearing, we'll be exposing all of this with three of the world's leading experts on the vast censorship enterprise—all of whom have been warriors for free speech: @MZHemingway, @JonathanTurley and @bhweingarten. Tomorrow. 2 PM. You won't want to miss this one. — End
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨NEW: AFL is urging Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to declassify and release the Biden Admin’s classified domestic surveillance and censorship strategy. The Biden Admin’s weaponization of the intelligence apparatus against Americans must be fully exposed.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/2 In June 2021, the Biden Admin released an unprecedented 20-page “strategy” for a “whole-of-society approach” to “countering domestic terrorism.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/3 AFL launched an investigation into the Biden Admin’s censorship plan — and the revelations are shocking. AFL’s investigation exposed how “domestic terrorism” was used to justify the administration’s censorship agenda targeting its political and social opponents.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
America First Legal vows to shed light on this unholy marriage and fight for the privacy and the constitutional rights of all Americans. https://www.aflegal.org/news/afl-files-foia-demanding-answers-about-the-biden-administrations-domestic-surveillance-of-americans-and-collaboration-with-big-tech-companies
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/4 As part of the #DeepStateDiaries, AFL exposed how the Biden Admin had drafted a classified implementation plan — described by one official as “crisp and clear,” with “defined responsibilities” across the intelligence community.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/5 This request is another step in AFL’s ongoing efforts to protect the American people from the Deep State and expose how the Biden Admin weaponized intelligence services and law enforcement against: ➡️ Conservatives ➡️ Military veterans ➡️ People of faith ➡️ President Trump
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/6 Here’s what AFL has already exposed…
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/7 The Biden Admin coordinated with tech companies to censor so-called “misinformation.” AFL’s findings were included in amended pleadings in Missouri v. Biden and served as the basis for significant factual discovery in the case and subsequent congressional investigations.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1 🚨💉THREAD: AFL lawsuit has revealed shocking documents from the CDC, revealing government collusion with Big Tech to censor free speech & promote Biden Admin propaganda. Twitter & CDC collusion⤵️: CDC sends Twitter officials a chart of tweets it deemed to be”misinformation”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/8 The Biden Admin labeled “pro-life mothers” as potential “radicalization suspects.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
We obtained stunning documents from the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention at DHS. They’re describing pro-life Americans as being “radicalization suspects.” You won’t want to miss these… 👀
@JustTheNews - Just the News
DHS 'bystander' training singles out pro-lifers, government critics as 'radicalization' suspects https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/dhs-bystander-training-singles-out-pro-lifers-government-critics?utm_source=mux&utm_medium=social
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/9 The Biden Admin blamed “Trump supporters” for “most of the domestic terrorism threat.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 Internal docs from Biden’s DHS show their plans to target Trump supports as domestic extremists. The Brennan-Clapper intel group discussed how “most of the domestic terrorism threat now comes from supporters of the former president.” #DeepStateDiaries PART 2:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/10 The Biden Admin planned efforts to condition Americans to “get into local communities” in “non-threatening” ways and report their neighbors to the federal government.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 New docs reveal DHS intel group proposed: ✔️Americans should report their neighbors to the feds ✔️Reclassifying political dissent under the guise of “public health” so that “mothers and teachers” feel comfortable coming forward #DeepStateDiaries PART 1:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/11 The Biden Admin coordinated the Mar-a-Lago raid — then told Americans it was simply “routine law enforcement” — and used people speaking out against the raid as a basis to justify spying on them.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 Docs show Biden’s DHS intel group used Jan. 6 & the Mar-a-Lago raid to justify expanding surveillance of political dissent. The group advocated for “collection based on speech” — as in spying on Americans for criticizing their gov’t. #DeepStateDiaries PART 3:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/12 The Biden Admin ran classified censorship strategy calls out of the White House Situation Room.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/13 The Biden Admin coordinated with the UK government to censor Americans.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨🗣️EXCLUSIVE — FOREIGN COLLUSION TO CENSOR AMERICAN SPEECH: New docs from litigation against the CDC reveal the Biden-Harris White House hosted the “Counter Disinformation Unit” from the U.K. gov’t in 2021 to learn about their recommendations to censor speech. 🧵THREAD:
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/14 AFL urges DNI Gabbard to declassify and release the Biden Admin’s classified surveillance and censorship strategy plan in order to restore trust and confidence in the federal government. The Biden Admin’s weaponization of national security authorities must be fully exposed.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/15 AFL will keep fighting to protect Americans from the Deep State and combat the left’s weaponization of our intelligence services and law enforcement against political and social conservatives, military veterans, people of faith, and President Trump.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Until yesterday, the Biden Administration's "Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism" was classified. Now, thanks to @DNIGabbard, it's public. It's a roadmap for left-wing ideological warfare. 🧵 https://t.co/gKgfob43Xh
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
In June 2021, the Biden admin released its public strategy for "countering domestic terrorism." In a lawsuit, @America1stLegal discovered that there was a separate, classified version of that plan. But the private version wasn't public—until now. https://t.co/eQ6fJtwaGZ
@DNIGabbard - DNI Tulsi Gabbard
As promised, I have declassified the Biden Administration’s Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism. Read it here: https://www.odni.gov/index.php/newsroom/dig/4064-dig-strat-impl-plan-ct-biden https://t.co/p9co00Scge
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
This was written in the early months of the Biden presidency. But it lays out, in detail, exactly what they would go on to do—and how they justified it. By adopting the framework of "domestic terrorism" (DT), they could effectively treat their critics as enemies of the state.
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
What's remarkable about the document is that it's an explicitly ideological vision. Its scope extends far beyond criminal violence—it encompasses online speech, education, gun control, even election participation. It's a strategy to suppress not just individuals, but IDEAS. https://t.co/pHt7f1CjkZ
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The plan lays out a four-pillar strategy: 1) Understand and Share DT-Related Information 2) Prevent DT Recruitment and Mobilization to Violence 3) Disrupt and Deter DT Activity 4) Confront Long-Term Contributors to DT That's a lot of jargon. Here's what it actually means. https://t.co/tVUSssdfuO
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Pillar One is information-sharing—that's the "whole-of-government" strategy in practice. They wanted every arm of the government to be a partner in this. Remember, when this document refers to "domestic terrorism" (DT), we know what they mean—because they publicly told us: https://t.co/5pMXXZfSlu
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Pillar Two is preventing "recruitment" and "mobilization." In practice, this meant mobilizing the security state to censor and suppress right-wingers. We know this, because it was detailed in the thousands of pages of documents we unearthed when I sued the Biden admin in 2021. https://t.co/p5sPcr3EJ1
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The plan lays out the roadmap for how the Biden administration would partner with powerful "third-party" actors—Big Tech, left-wing NGOs, anti-"hate" groups, etc—to implement this censorship regime. I explained exactly how that system worked here: https://t.co/vNDBYyAo8r
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
The Left spent the past decade building a vast censorship enterprise. A shadowy network of NGOs, tech groups and governments working to censor the Left's enemies—not just in America, but across the West. Over the next four years, the GOP must expose + dismantle this system. 🧵 https://t.co/XH2EkdGaoM
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Pillar Three is about transforming the mission of the security state to place a higher priority on prosecuting "domestic terrorism," and pushing for expanded power to pursue that agenda. And that's what they did. In Biden's first year, the FBI more than doubled its DT caseload. https://t.co/FNDCoRdacN
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Once again, we know what "DT" meant, because we saw it in practice. Pro-life activists, parents, traditional Catholics, conservatives in the military—all were targets. The plan goes so far as to discuss putting Americans with no ties to foreign terrorism on terror watchlists: https://t.co/KQUcl8QwOz
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Pillar Four is just openly advocating for the entire federal government to become a vehicle for leftism. It calls for funding "civics education" to teach "action civics" (read: left-wing activism) and wielding law enforcement to "mitigate xenophobia and bias" in COVID policy. https://t.co/OQ3f65tspR
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
Finally, as you can see above, it calls for a ban on "assault weapons and high-capacity magazines." Once again, this was a preview of how they would operate—the Biden admin regularly used the specter of "domestic terror" as a pretext to push for crackdowns on gun rights. https://t.co/mHzulFfeY9
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
When it dropped in 2021, the public version of this "domestic terrorism" plan generated a huge backlash. It was the first time in U.S. history that a president had ever come out with a national plan to combat "domestic terrorism." Even the hard-left ACLU came out against it. https://t.co/dczwcvzxmq
@Eric_Schmitt - Eric Schmitt
But the private, internal one is worse. It's specific, direct, and doesn't hide behind vague, sweeping generalities. When read in light of everything the Biden administration went on to do, their overarching goals are crystal clear. We can never let this happen again. End 🧵
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨BREAKING — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has declassified the Biden Administration’s top-secret surveillance and censorship strategy — exposing a chilling plan to weaponize the intelligence apparatus against the American people. 🧵👇 https://t.co/su5GUkL3Ym
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/2 On April 2, AFL formally urged @DNIGabbard to declassify the Biden Administration’s classified domestic surveillance and censorship strategy — a top-secret plan AFL uncovered through litigation against the Department of Homeland Security.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨NEW: AFL is urging Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to declassify and release the Biden Admin’s classified domestic surveillance and censorship strategy. The Biden Admin’s weaponization of the intelligence apparatus against Americans must be fully exposed. https://t.co/GLV9ylnwS6
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /3 This week, in direct response to AFL’s request, DNI Gabbard declassified and released the Biden Administration’s top-secret surveillance and censorship strategy.
@DNIGabbard - DNI Tulsi Gabbard
As promised, I have declassified the Biden Administration’s Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism. Read it here: https://www.odni.gov/index.php/newsroom/dig/4064-dig-strat-impl-plan-ct-biden https://t.co/p9co00Scge
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /4 This thread breaks down the Biden Administration’s once-classified plan to surveil Americans and censor free speech in the United States.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /5 In 2021, without any evidence, the Biden Administration declared that the greatest threat to Americans was “right-wing domestic terrorism” from supporters of President Trump.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 Internal docs from Biden’s DHS show their plans to target Trump supports as domestic extremists. The Brennan-Clapper intel group discussed how “most of the domestic terrorism threat now comes from supporters of the former president.” #DeepStateDiaries PART 2: https://t.co/q2HcoAe2Kd
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/6 The Biden Administration’s classified surveillance strategy directed the State Department, FBI, DOJ, and CIA to “obtain from foreign partners foreign intelligence and information related to U.S.-based violent extremism.” In other words, the Biden Administration planned to outsource surveillance of Americans to foreign governments.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/7 As a subset of that strategic goal, the Biden Administration asked the FBI, CIA, DHS, and the State Department to study how disinformation relates to the “domestic terrorism threat” — connecting the whole-of-society censorship program to the national security and intelligence apparatus.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /8 The Biden Administration’s classified censorship and surveillance strategy pushed for “information sharing across all levels,” including with “state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners.” https://t.co/Jo3EY7I3RG
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /9 The left supports maximum information sharing with law enforcement to label conservatives as domestic terrorists… But if a local sheriff wants to work with ICE to turn over a murderous illegal alien, communication is prohibited because of “sanctuary” policies.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/10 The classified censorship and surveillance strategy also calls for funding for “digital literacy programming.” Despite the domestic scope of this plan, the Biden Administration tapped the State Department and USAID to produce “digital literacy programming” to “combat misinformation” online.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard /11 As @MikeBenzCyber has shown, “digital literacy” is when organizations — such as NewsGuard — approve certain publications as “trustworthy” and then suppress “non-trustworthy” sources as “misinformation.”
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
"Nudge Theory" is the bedrock of an unholy new field, born after the 2016 election, called "media literacy" (also called "digital literacy") "Media literacy" means if you don't read the right news sources (aka, mainstream slop), you are "media illiterate" & must be re-educated. https://t.co/rykCF9556X
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/12 This classified strategy contains numerous parallels to documents from AFL’s #DeepStateDiaries, including the revelation that the “intelligence experts” group, led by John Brennan and James Clapper, suggested that DHS use people’s military and religious affiliations as indicators that they could be domestic terrorists.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/4 Under the Brennan-Clapper committee’s approach to national security, when all else fails, DHS should use being “in the military” or “religious” to profile people and tag them as having “indicators of extremists and terrorism” as a pretext to allow DHS to spy on them. https://t.co/f2ucWhFgAW
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /13 The left tried to use this same tactic to smear now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, before his confirmation, suggesting he could be a white supremacist for having a tattoo of a cross. https://t.co/s4BQ5wMd45
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /14 On the left is an excerpt from the classified plan from 2021. On the right is an excerpt from the DHS meeting minutes from 2023. They are the same playbook. https://t.co/wj4cEzrRDJ
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /15 The Biden Administration’s classified surveillance plan also appears to be the beginning of its push to label all domestic terrorists as “right wing” and threats to “public health.” https://t.co/hxhT2acDOF
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /16 Two years later, in a DHS “intelligence experts” group meeting, an unidentified member said this public health reclassification was important, so that mothers and teachers would feel more comfortable turning in their kids to authorities.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/11 The very next speaker proposed another solution: reclassify “concerning” behavior into the “public health catcher’s mitt” so that “mother[s] and teacher[s]” feel comfortable coming forward. https://t.co/qQa40k0g5p
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/17 The Biden Administration’s classified censorship and surveillance strategy makes clear that the administration meant it when it said this was a “whole-of-government approach.” The same concepts and buzzwords throughout this implementation plan are used repeatedly in documents from the DHS “intelligence experts” group, which AFL sued and successfully disbanded.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨 New docs reveal DHS intel group proposed: ✔️Americans should report their neighbors to the feds ✔️Reclassifying political dissent under the guise of “public health” so that “mothers and teachers” feel comfortable coming forward #DeepStateDiaries PART 1: https://t.co/oo5zP88uYo
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /18 The Biden Administration’s classified censorship and surveillance strategy outlines a plan to “share transnational approaches, good practices, and lessons learned” with “multilateral” meetings and “foreign government[s].” https://t.co/4ve0Ei2THu
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /19 AFL exposed that the Biden Administration hosted the UK Government’s “Counter Disinformation Unit” in 2021 to share its recommendations to censor speech with the White House during a meeting with the National Security Council.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨🗣️EXCLUSIVE — FOREIGN COLLUSION TO CENSOR AMERICAN SPEECH: New docs from litigation against the CDC reveal the Biden-Harris White House hosted the “Counter Disinformation Unit” from the U.K. gov’t in 2021 to learn about their recommendations to censor speech. 🧵THREAD: https://t.co/bZ9H8gYQec
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /20 The Biden Administration’s classified censorship and surveillance strategy also emphasizes the importance of “increasing faith in democracy and the government,” another recurring theme in documents released in AFL’s #DeepStateDiaries. https://t.co/PnFFyIT3zH
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /21 Two years later, Brennan and Clapper’s “intelligence experts” group discussed how DHS could “quietly make democracy work” and use covert messaging campaigns to get the American public to feel certain ways about issues. https://t.co/MD6yYF6LEF
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /22 The Biden Administration’s classified censorship and surveillance plan also calls for maximum law enforcement action against domestic terrorism crimes. https://t.co/OEtvzkAzAa
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /23 Domestic terrorists — like those setting fire to Tesla dealerships, burning governors’ mansions, and engaging in political violence — should absolutely be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /24 This top-secret plan was created by the same administration that released the infamous October 4 DOJ memo labeling concerned parents at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists.”
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1 Three years ago today Attorney General Garland issued a memo weaponizing the entire DOJ against parents for speaking out at school board meetings. With @DefendingEd we created a detailed timeline and are revealing shocking new details and context about the weaponized DOJ.🧵 https://t.co/RwtkMWdAE3
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /25 The same administration that labeled Trump supporters as domestic terrorists — while turning a blind eye to pro-Hamas vandals and rioters in cities and on college campuses across the country, actively spewing hatred, engaging in violence, and supporting actual terrorists.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
/1🚨BREAKING — We just sued Biden’s Department of Education for obstructing records on pro-Hamas college rallies including foreign extremists. Many of these radical students are here on F-1 student visas. Deport. Hamas. Sympathizers. THREAD: https://t.co/t8BpOWkMFI
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /26 The Biden Administration weaponized the entire intelligence apparatus — the NSC, ODNI, CIA, FBI, DOJ, and the State Department — to target, censor, and silence the very people it was responsible for protecting.
@America1stLegal - America First Legal
@DNIGabbard @MikeBenzCyber /27 AFL will continue fighting to expose and dismantle the left’s weaponization of our intelligence community against the American people.
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
Periodic reminder the US government funded at least 23 of the NGOs behind the EU’s Digital Censorship Act, including 13 of the NGOs directly enforcing it
@MikeBenzCyber - Mike Benz
🚨 BREAKING FROM FFO 🚨 23 US-Funded Organizations Drive The EU’s War on Tech Companies https://t.co/XLoUo16Ybx
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This case was filed last May by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with private plaintiffs, against numerous agencies in the federal government. Plaintiffs alleged that the government (including the FBI, White House, Surgeon General, CISA, among many others) were forcing social media companies to censor speech by threat.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This case was filed last May by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, along with private plaintiffs, against numerous agencies in the federal government. Plaintiffs alleged that the government (including the FBI, White House, Surgeon General, CISA, among many others) were forcing social media companies to censor speech by threat.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The Plaintiffs wanted a temporary injunction to STOP this activity as their case moved to trial. Judge Terry Doughty granted them expedited limited discovery and deposition to get the information they needed to prove a temporary injunction was warranted.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Of course, the government fought this the entire way, but ultimately were widely unsuccessful. The information plaintiffs received was absolutely mind blowing. For certain the government was coercing social media companies to censorship— the discovery proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
It came time for a hearing on the injunction, and I traveled to Louisiana for that hearing. It was 8 hours long, and absolutely damning for the government. If you see the post I placed in the first post in this thread, you can scroll down and read all about it.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Since that hearing, I have been honored to do several spaces with @ThaWoodChipper, who also understands the importance of this monumental civil rights case. It is the most important civil rights case in the modern era, hands down. We waited patiently for the ruling… And on July 4th, we got it.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
On July 4th, the district court under an absolutely AMAZING judge in Terry Doughty, ruled in FAVOR of the Plaintiffs. Here is where you need to pay attention. Everything this judge wrote in his ruling is a PROVEN FACT in a court of law. In a 155 page ruling, the judge METICULOUSLY dissected the record and rendered a judgement.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I threaded this ruling when it happened, and you can find it on my “highlights” page - but I want to make something clear; the fact set the judge is relying on here came from EXTREMELY limited discovery and deposition from ONLY the government Defendants.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, the ruling was for a temporary injunction to STOP the government from the following while carving out some exceptions for them, AS THE REST OF THE CASE PROGRESSED THROUGH DISCOVERY AND TO TRIAL. Read this very carefully.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This list is going to be very important as we move forward through this thread, so please bookmark this for reference moving forward. So, the government obviously appealed this to the 5th circuit. The court heard the appeal in an expedited fashion (for them) and yesterday, THEIR opinion was filed.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
It is hard to completely rehash all of the reporting I have done over the past year and some months in a short update, but basically the government argued that they weren’t threatening anyone ever and everything we got in discovery was nonsense and misinterpreted, and the 3 judge panel of the court of appeals had to listen to that, while reviewing the DETAILED fact set the judge had ruled on in the order for the injunction.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, quickly, what we are about to go through is the 5th circuits decision on whether or not to UPHOLD the ruling that Judge Doughty made barring the government agencies listed from the actions listed above in the 4 set screenshot, or to REVERSE that ruling. It isn’t about the entire case— ONLY the temporary injunction.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I am probably 70/30 on how this panned out, but the details are important. The government asked that if the court should rule against them, they put a stay (pause) on the order for 10 days so that they could appeal it to the SCOTUS. The 5th did that, so the ruling they just laid down is PAUSED for 10 more days while the government attempts to write to the SCOTUS convincing them that they SHOULD be able to force social media companies to censor you. Chew on that for a minute.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Also, in the interim while we waited for this decision, I had the honor of interviewing both @AGAndrewBailey from Missouri, and @AGJeffLandry from Louisiana. Both are WONDERFUL examples of what you want in a state Attorney General. For links, see: Andrew Bailey: https://rumble.com/v342ndn-dark-to-light-missouri-attorney-general-andrew-bailey.html Jeff Landry: https://rumble.com/v36i7oh-dark-to-light-missouri-v.-biden-and-ag-jeff-landry.html
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@AGAndrewBailey @AGJeffLandry We are about to travel through 74 pages together.. Grab coffee, whatever, and off we go. Here is the link to the decision, and here is a summary of what we are about to dissect as best we can. LINK: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640/gov.uscourts.ca5.214640.238.1.pdf
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
So, the court agrees the government is guilty of what is alleged, but not for ALL of the officials that Judge Doughty did. Remember, everything is based on the limited discovery they were able to receive, but I wholeheartedly disagree with this, and we will go through the reasons why. Still, the fact this was affirmed AT ALL is a massive, massive win.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@AGAndrewBailey @AGJeffLandry They summarized much more concisely than I ever could… https://t.co/mOVcbQlst9
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
1. The White House and Surgeon General - taken together Here the appeals court affirms that the WH and SG requested social media companies remove posts and pressured them to do so. It also affirms that they also monitored the platforms moderation activities, demanded information from them about their policies, “Always, the officials asked for more data and stronger interventions” said the 5th.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
From the beginning the platforms cooperated - even creating special tools, but as officials began to demand more from them, the platforms worked to “appease” government officials, “eager” to stay in their good graces. https://t.co/JRstpgWUIH
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Remember, everything in this decision REAFFIRMS a fact pattern. Here the 5th affirms that the WH and SG attempted to interfere with the platforms own POLICY creation. This is so important. The government can not do this. https://t.co/Xs82GI5HzO
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Here the court affirms that platforms changed their moderation policy after instruction from the government… Tsk Tsk “…they also changed their moderation policies expressly in accordance with the officials’ wishes…” https://t.co/k1bN5Pxz11
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
As an aside, I don’t want to hear ONE PERSON come at any of us who have been saying this for years and say it is “misinformation” any longer. This is now affirmed both in congress and in two courts - a district court and the court of appeals of the United States. @krassenstein and @EdKrassen argued with me in a space once that this is all totally untrue. I hope they will revise their positions. I wont hold my breath.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The discovery proved that the changes many of the platforms enacted coincided closely with meeting between the WH and SG and the platforms. And even when they didn’t adopt the changes, they censored content that DID NOT BREAK their terms of service after that content was flagged by the government.. Again, marinate on it…
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
@krassenstein At the same time as they were demoting normal Americans, the social media platforms capitulated to government demands to “amplify” (inorganically) the governments “approved” narrative, specifically in this case when it pertained to vaccines for COVID. https://t.co/asT2LPmGow
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I want everyone to think about the above for a moment. They were forcing inorganic amplification so people would be fooled into thinking the vaccine was “safe and effective” when one of them was REMOVED because it wasn’t. The sheer evil behind the obvious is unbelievable.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even with all of that, the ministry of truth wasn’t happy, scolding platforms for not doing enough, and trying to coerce them to do more. All of this to get that needle in your arm, consequences be damned… https://t.co/u1Ws27lq1M
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And here the court details the infamous press conference, where Jen Psaki and Vivek Murthy *expressly threatened* the platforms from the bully pulpit, even singling out certain accounts.. This was the ultimate in authoritarianism, and the 5th circuit agrees. https://t.co/pfuKR2Dl6a
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“The platforms responded with total compliance. Their answer was four-fold.” The social media companies responded with child like obedience to daddy government. You can’t make this up. https://t.co/7KdEbIZtoF
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They changed their internal policies in response to the presser… https://t.co/6mUxhGE6FP
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They removed speakers (like the so called “disinfo dozen” that they HAD NOT BEEN targeting BEFORE the press conference, and they continued to inorganically amplify the government’s content. https://t.co/CoBxeDgV0A
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even this wasn’t enough for the ministry of truth. They continued their public threats, invoking Section 230 protection as a cudgel for MORE action, and using the office of the President as a backbone for that threat. https://t.co/lSVh0dUC71
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“Next, we turn to the CDC” says the 5th panel. They behaved much like the White House and Surgeon General. They flagged posts with supposed “misinformation” and actively sought to promote its “official” position over others. They also provided direct guidance to the platforms on the application of their internal policy and moderation activities.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
They had BOLO (Be on the Lookout) meetings on “misinformation” hot topics. They asked for moderation changes, and they OUTRIGHT DIRECTED platforms to take certain actions. Direct violation of the constitution. Platforms began relying on the CDC to “Debunk” posts it wasn’t sure about.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And now, the good ol’ FBI. They regularly met with platforms, at least since the 2020 election. They shared “Strategic information” to alert them to “misinformation” trends in the lead up to the elections. https://t.co/yvtGq79TMf
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Per their operations, the FBI monitored platforms moderation policies and asked for “detailed assessments” during regular meetings. Some platforms changed their TOS to be able to comply with the FBI. While the government boasted that *only* 50% of the domestic (I repeat - DOMESTIC) content they wanted to remove was removed, the court didn’t find that so beneficial for them.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This is going to be the part where my disappointment comes in…But, again, this isn’t the CASE decision, its the decision on the injunction only.. They talk about NIAID, CISA, and the State Department. NIAID and Fauci didn’t have regular contact with platforms or flag, they mainly appeared on Live Streams and podcasts and had those amplified. CISA and the SD directly engaged with the platforms and discussed the tools and techniques that foreign influence actors would use.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The State Department didn’t flag content, but CISA did, acting as an intermediary for third party groups and then “switch boarding” based off of the EIP and CIS. The officials actions “apparently led to content being removed or demoted by the recipient platforms” https://t.co/KuNQmkYwuW
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Relying on the fact set above, the district court concluded that the officials coerced platforms to remove content and change their moderation policies, and therefore were likely to succeed on the merits, granting the injunction. https://t.co/3vpLFQuWg7
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
LEGAL THEORY: On standing - Any ONE plaintiff that demonstrates ongoing harm or continued injury is enough to pass the standing argument, a fact that was argued eloquently by the Plaintiff attorney in court. https://t.co/1CGDLZqSRK
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government is arguing that Plaintiffs dont have standing because they can’t prove a FUTURE injury. Here the court goes over their PAST injury. But the court doesn’t agree with the government. They believe there is ongoing injury and there will be future injury as well. https://t.co/Gfmm96ScvQ
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
I want to stop for a second (again) and go over how monumental this actually is. This is the first time ever that a normal “user” or American has submitted evidence of social media censorship and had their concerns ADDRESSED at all by a COURT OF LAW.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Another HUGE precedent set here - the past chilling of their speech has caused individuals to SELF CENSOR. That is considered ongoing harm. This is a massive and very important section. https://t.co/vfa8NBIywk
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
“As the Supreme Court has recognized, this chilling of the Individual Plaintiffs exercise of their First Amendment Rights, is, itself, a constitutionally sufficient injury.” They rule that the fears motivating the self censorship aren’t hypothetical, and come from very real censorship injuries they have previously suffered… Legal Eagles, affirm for me the importance of JUST this paragraph.. Amazing.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government had tried to argue that ongoing harms were not going to occur because, for example, Twitter had “stopped” enforcing its COVID misinformation policy. But the court disagrees, saying that they have been censored for views well beyond COVID. Continued next— very important.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Here is something ANYONE who is considering any sort of lawsuit needs to consider. The court here aptly notes that plaintiffs aren’t suing the platforms over their TOS, they are suing to stop the GOVERNMENT from interfering with platforms. Also - the government admitted in oral argument that they are STILL in contact with these platforms today. TLDR; the court doesn’t trust that the government isn’t still forcing social media companies to censor..
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
This is GRAND. The government argued that because the users had been REINSTATED, all is well. The court rightly says no. The fact that they WERE REINSTATED is what causes the threat of ongoing harm. If they didn’t have an account, they wouldn’t have to worry about censorship— they wouldn’t be able to post. Masterful.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The first standing hurdle, crossed and landed for Plaintiffs. This means any chance of appeal on standing to SCOTUS is likely a failure. The government had argued this standing issue over, and over, and over and have been shot down every single time. Now that is reinforced yet again. This case isn’t going ANYWHERE.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The Plaintiffs had to show that their injuries were traceable to conduct of the government. Government argued that since the content moderation policies were in place in the Trump administration, and also because moderation decisions were made independently by the social media companies. They had no standing. However, the plaintiffs aren’t challenging the policies themselves, but whether they can be traced back to government actors. The appeals court agrees with the district court that yes, they can be.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Even though there were instances where social media companies declined to censor, the Plaintiffs only have to show the likelihood they would comply, not certainty. The logical conclusion is that they would, based on the preliminary discovery they received.. https://t.co/iBBr8Z4vGw
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And I want to again stress, this was LIMITED discovery. The judge in the district court had made it a point in an order to let the government know that this was a mere scintilla of what would be required for production moving forward. So position this for yourselves - all of this is coming from an EXTREMELY limited production of evidence, which will now broaden to include more officials, more agency heads, more PRIVATE companies, like Facebook, Google, and X, that will be subpoenaed and deposed for evidence at trial.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Next on standing, the Plaintiffs had to prove that their injuries could be redressed by a favorable decision on the injunction. https://t.co/yr5tIK2Usd
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Again, key here is that the Plaintiffs aren’t challenging the social media companies policies themselves, rather they asked for the government from being restrained from unlawfully interfering with their independent application of those policies. https://t.co/kut8vbUl2L
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And IMPORTANTLY, the government had argued that the state plaintiffs didn’t have standing. That goes right down the trash shoot here, and it is a BIG deal. States were censored by platforms. This court determines they have standing as well. https://t.co/CSJYbS0iVE
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And an interesting little tidbit here. Other state officials have experienced censorship as well, so this isn’t limited to just Missouri and Louisiana. https://t.co/lLRibdfomG
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
And next, a very important part of the 1st Amendment that often goes undiscussed. THE RIGHT TO LISTEN. Constituent plaintiffs were harmed by the censorship of their elected representatives, and the elected representatives and states are harmed WHEN THEY CAN NOT HEAR their constituents. This was discussed at length in my interview with @AGJeffLandry
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The appeals court rules that Plaintiffs have standing - finally putting that issue to bed (hopefully) and also the court makes sure to include that even the CDC admitted the need to “hear” citizens. It may be for a different reason for them, but if you think about it - if the government couldn’t “hear” what we are all saying, they wouldn’t know what narrative they needed to craft to counter the truth… Goes both ways. NEXT!
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
There is a high bar to hit to even be granted an injunction. You must meet four criteria, as detailed below. 1. You are likely to succeed on the merits of your case. 2. There is a “substantial threat that you will suffer “irreparable injury” without it. 3. The injury you could sustain outweighs whatever “harm” the injunction could cause the other side 4. An injunction doesn’t disserve the public interest.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
FRAME THIS. “The Plaintiffs allege that federal officials ran afoul of the First Amendment by coercing and significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor disfavored speech, including by threats of adverse government action like antitrust enforcement and legal reforms. WE AGREE”
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
The government CAN NOT abridge free speech. Private parties are not normally constrained by the first amendment. Again, the importance of this can not be understated. We are here because they government acted through threats to social media companies to censor “disfavored” viewpoints. Every case against a social media company for their TOS or their censorship moves has failed because Plaintiffs have targeted the social media company rather than the government. One exception I know of off the top of my head is the Berenson case, and he settled.
@tracybeanz - Tracy Beanz
Took a quick pause for my carnivore lunch. Back in a moment.